Ken Borland

South African cricket is already battling to keep up with the richer nations on the international stage and a working paper put together by one of the franchise’s financial managers now shows that domestic cricket is facing significant cutbacks that will definitely affect the quality of play, despite the restructuring that Cricket South Africa are forging ahead with.

In the same press conference this week in which CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith spoke about the gap widening between the Haves (The Big Three of England, Australia and India) and the Have-Nots (where South Africa now find themselves), he also said the new domestic system approved by the Members Council is being rolled out and should be operational next season.

But in a working paper prepared for the board of one of the unions a financial manager has said “the revenue model is not sustainable” and “I cannot foresee a 12 or 14-team first-class affiliate structure being financially viable”.

The working paper says it costs around R12 million a year to run a franchise, excluding player contracts, and to run one of the bigger stadiums costs about R8 million a year. The franchises received R5 million a year from CSA, but as part of the Project 654 cutbacks, there is set to be an 8% decrease in this allowance, plus the grant from the Mzansi Super League is going to be cut from R5 million to just R500 000.

CSA will also give a grant of R435 500 for team operating expenses, but the budget for a franchise team this season shows that they spend R650 000 on clothing and R293 000 on balls alone, as well as vehicle costs of R227 000. The teams will receive a R15 000 hosting fee from CSA per match day, but the working paper points out that hosting a four-day game costs R23 500 per day and a one-day or T20 match costs about R168 000.

“Teams are going to have to find sponsorships of around R8 million to bridge the gap but having limited televised games means current sponsorship revenues are not sustainable. The revenue model is not sustainable and retrenchments will have to be considered and our matches will have to go to less expensive venues. We are also seeing a decline in suite sales and in-stadium advertising.

“But even with the restructured revenue model, hosting games at smaller venues, retrenchments and scaling down operational costs, I cannot foresee a 12- or 14-team first-class affiliate structure being financially viable,” the financial manager said.

The downsizing of the investment in each provincial side, which is inevitable with more teams taking part in the A Section, could well affect the quality of players produced for the Proteas by the domestic pipeline. Just as you’re not going to get a jumbo jet taking off from a small airport like the ones in Pietermaritzburg or Margate, so we cannot expect a lesser domestic structure, both in terms of competitiveness and resources, to launch the careers of world-beating stars.

The attraction with Andile Phehlukwayo as an all-rounder for the Proteas would have been rapidly wearing thin after Pakistan snatched victory at the death in the third T20 and claimed a 2-1 series win in Lahore on Sunday.

The match was heading for a thrilling conclusion as Pakistan, chasing 165 for victory, were 137 for seven after 17 overs.

Dwaine Pretorius conceded 12 runs in the 18^th over, four of them via an unfortunate edged boundary, but the experienced Phehlukwayo would have fancied his chances of still forcing the game to the wire as he stepped up to bowl the penultimate over with 16 runs to play with.

Unfortunately it all went horribly wrong as the seamer started with a full toss hit for six and called a no-ball, bowled a wide two balls later, conceded a four and then delivered another full toss which was heaved for six by Hasan Ali (20* off 7 balls), as Pakistan dashed to victory by four wickets with eight balls to spare.

Phehlukwayo had also been caught on the boundary for a duck, as part of a dreadful collapse that saw South Africa crash to 65 for seven and he was also guilty of a few misfields that cost nine runs.

There was much to be pleased about for the Proteas in the field, however, as they fought back well spearheaded by the superb spin bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi, who took four for 25, after Pakistan seemed to be cruising to victory as Mohammad Rizwan (42 off 30) and Babar Azam (44 off 30) took them to 112 for three after 14 overs.

South Africa’s batting against spin is still obviously a major issue though as, after being sent into bat, they were ripped apart by deutant leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, who took three for 23 in his first three overs.

Left-arm orthodox Mohammad Nawaz also took a couple of wickets in the powerplay as the Proteas made the spinners look unplayable.

Fortunately David Miller survived the chaos and showed why he is still one of the best finishers South Africa have, scoring an exceptional 85 not out off 45 balls to get them to a competitive 164 for eight.

Bjorn Fortuin (10*) and Lutho Sipamla (8*) batted sensibly to enable Miller to add 99 runs for the last two wickets.

South African cricket has lost its position of influence in the global game according to both the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Interim Board and the minister of sport, which is part of the reason they have been treated with such disdain by Cricket Australia (CA).

CSA have lodged an official complaint against CA with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Australia’s failure to honour their commitment to a Test tour that was meant to start on February 24, ostensibly due to fears over Covid-19. But South African cricket, now represented by the acting president of the Members Council, Rihan Richards, have reportedly lost their voice in the ICC hallways of power so it would be no surprise if their calls for compensation fall on deaf ears.

“South Africa have always enjoyed a position of prominence in international cricket, but of late it seems their standing is the opposite of that,” sports minister Nathi Mthethwa said in his opening comments during a virtual report-back session with the Interim Board on Friday.

“CSA has lost its place of prestige in the ICC, which is no surprise because there has been so much internal struggle in South African cricket and therefore a lack of focus on affairs at the ICC. That has allowed an imbalance in world cricket and we have a long way to restore our reputation.

“CA has been referred by us, but there are hints that The Big Three might reform themselves. CSA needs to get their house in order in order to return to a position of influence,” Interim Board member Haroon Lorgat, a former CEO of the ICC, added.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Interim Board, said the likely complete cancellation of the Australian tour showed CSA needed to work on establishing stronger relationships with countries like India.

“I’m not sure we’re going to be able to postpone the Australian tour to a suitable date even though we consulted widely with their medical team and their medical experts. The balance of power in international cricket has been brought into question. We need to strengthen our strategic position and we ned to tap into our other relationships with India, for example through BRICS.

“There was extensive consultation with CA and we made significant upgrades to our biosecure bubble, acceded to all of their demands. Then at the beginning of the month they advised us the tour would not proceed which was extremely disappointing. They said we had hit the peak of our second wave and our strain was more virulent, but on the day they notified us, we had a 75% reduction in cases and our strain is not more virulent but more contagious,” Nicolaou said.

Mthethwa also said he has full confidence in the Interim Board and their ability to deliver the AGM in the next couple of months.

“The Interim Board has not disappointed us, their initial appointment was for three months from October but we made provision to extend that and we are satisfied with the work they have done. The Interim Board understands the importance of transformation and they are not compromising on that. Some delays in their work have not been in their control, such as disciplinary processes.

“But I have full confidence in the Interim Board, they have been reporting to me and I am confident that the stance they have taken in disciplinary matters is according to the book, I have no fears about that. It is concerning though that there are these distractions that are trying to take our eyes off the ball. But I am glad that the Interim Board is consistently focused on the task at hand,” Mthethwa said.

Nicolaou committed the Interim Board to completing their work in the next two months.

“The implementation of the Nicholson recommendations are our most important task, to modernise, strengthen and enhance CSA’s governance. Professor Michael Katz, the foremost expert on that, has been given the mandate for that and has shared an amended MoI with us. That needs to be agreed to by the Members Council at a special general meeting which we envisage happening in the first two weeks of March.

“That will provide the platform for us to go to the AGM, which we anticipate happening between April 10-17, when a new permanent board, and an appropriate gap between them and the Members Council, and a new era for cricket will be inaugurated. But we have no control over the timing of disciplinary processes, they are both objective and independent, and postponements and delays are not unexpected,” Nicolaou said.

Dwaine Pretorius was obviously the star of the show as South Africa levelled the T20 series against Pakistan on Saturday with the best figures in the history of Proteas T20 cricket, but the all-rounder said the efforts of spin bowlers Tabraiz Shamsi and Jon-Jon Smuts in the middle overs of the innings were as worthy of reward as his incredible return of five for 17.

Pretorius broke the record for best T20 figures for South Africa, previously held by Ryan McLaren, who took five for 19 against the West Indies at North Sound. He bowled the second over of the innings, trapping Pakistan kingpin Babar Azam lbw with his second ball and then returned in the 14^th over of the innings to remove top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan for 51 and claiming three other wickets in the closing stages of the innings.

But before his second spell, wrist-spinner Shamsi bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to take one for 16 in his four overs, while Smuts conceded just 20 runs in his four overs of canny left-arm orthodox.

“That was next-level bowing by Shamo and Jon-Jon and they could easily have taken the wickets instead of me. That’s why I say it was a collective effort by the attack and the two spinners tightened the noose superbly. And Heinrich Klaasen captained the team really well, changing the bowlers around a lot so no-one could get settled on the batting side.

“So the spinners did superbly and the other seamers also executed the plan really well, and I just tried to stick to my plan. Sometimes in T20, the simpler the better and I just tried to keep my plans simple, although I have learnt, especially from bowing coach Charl Langeveldt, that it’s vital that the batsman doesn’t know which ball is coming, you also don’t want the batsman to settle into facing one thing,” Pretorius said after the six-wicket win.

Pretorius also praised the batsmen, especially Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon, who both scored 42 and played the spinners aggressively, showing that even a daunting leg-spinner like Usman Qadir is only human as he faltered under pressure, conceding 43 runs in his four overs.

“The batsmen have actually played a lot of good cricket lately, but then it’s just been one or two overs that we lose really badly. As a batting unit, they’ve tried to focus on making sure that when you hit a bad patch, you don’t lose a cluster of wickets. They’re trying to keep their intensity high and they did that unbelievably well today. It’s about the big moments and we played those better tonight,” Pretorius said.